OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO ARRIVE IN REGION
TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 17 2007
Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend K. Ramazanova /The Foreign Minister of
Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
(Yuri Merzylakov – Russian Federation and Bernard Fassier – France)
in Paris and discussed the mediators’ visit to the region to take
place at the end of the month, said the Press Secretary of the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan, Khazar Ibrahim.
Mammadyarov arrived in France to attend the General Conference of
UNESCO. The US Co-Chair of the Minsk Group did not attend the talks.
The reasons have not yet been explained.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.